The Antarctic Book of Cooking and Cleaning: Nourishing recipes from the coldest continent

Recipes for Spiced Tea (Russian Tea) and Pollo Relleno

Pollo Relleno from The Antarctic Book of Cooking and Cleaning (Vauve Press, 2013) by Wendy Trusler and Carol Devine

Photograph by: Sandy Nicholson
, Vauve Press

Wendy Trusler had cooked for many hungry tree planters in the Canadian boreal forest; she knew how to feed people under the constraints of remote locales. Her work in the bush had shown that, in the right hands, food can be a nourishing morale booster that goes well beyond mere survival. As it turned out, Trusler, also a visual artist and food stylist, had just the skills Carol Devine was looking for in an Antarctic expedition cook.

Devine, a Toronto-based humanitarian, led the 1995/6 Russian-Canadian environmental cleanup expedition to Bellingshausen – a Russian research station on the 90 per cent glaciated King George Island of the South Shetland Islands (120 km off the Antarctic Coast). Several volunteer groups journeyed to Antarctica over an austral summer (December to March), brought by the Canadian conservation group VIEW Foundation (Volunteer International Environmental Work), and the Russian Antarctic Expedition (RAE).

With Antarctic adventure tourism company owner Sam Blyth, Devine created VIEW as a venue for volunteer visitors to participate in environmental cleanup. The project offered travellers the rare opportunity of not just stepping foot on the continent, but doing volunteer work there, and sleeping and eating at ‘Canada House.’ With emphasis on the eating, Trusler and Devine documented that summer in The Antarctic Book of Cooking and Cleaning (Vauve Press, 2013), which combines their journal entries, photographs, essays and more than 40 of Trusler’s recipes.

Antarctica is a continent of superlatives: coldest, driest, windiest and southernmost. As Devine and Trusler write in the book, “The first thing that comes to mind about Antarctica is not likely the food. But if you are going to spend any time there, it should be the second.” Trusler’s recipes reflect, in part, Bellingshausen’s neighbouring stations: the Uruguayan Artigas Base, the Chilean Base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva, the Chinese Great Wall Station, as well as Polish and Argentinian research stations. There are the recipes for Chilean Cazuela (slow-cooked meat and vegetables in broth) and Pisco Sour cocktail, Great Wall Dumplings (Jiaozi), and Russian colleague Lena’s Cabbage Pie.

Then there’s the recipe for the famous, or infamous, Honey Oatmeal Bread (Wendy Bread), which is also the base of Trusler’s Fruit Nut Ring, Cinnamon Buns, and All-In Pizza recipes. The bread, which is braided and should be pulled apart using one’s hands, caused quite a stir among Canada House’s hosts and neighbours. “At one stage Wendy’s bread became so famous that one of the Chilean wives was like, ‘Basta! [Enough!] Wendy, Wendy, Wendy!’ The bread kind of took over,” Devine says with a laugh. Trusler adds, “It was funny. That bread did have a life of its own – beyond the yeast.”

Trusler’s recipe yields reflect the reality of expedition life as well – they feed a crowd. For example, her recipe for White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup makes enough for 10 to 12 people. “I’ve had people say, ‘Why didn’t you pare the recipes down to serve four?’ and I had this conversation with my mom and she said, ‘Why would you make soup for four people?’” Trusler laughs. “That’s my point as well. Even though it’s my husband, my son and I, I always make soup for at least 14 with the idea that it’s going to carry me into the week or I can freeze some, which is what I did down there. I would make a bunch of soups and freeze them; we didn’t have plastic containers so I cut the lids off of plastic water bottles and inverted them so I could have different soups.”

Recalling journal entries from previous expeditions, Devine turns to chocolate. Early explorers played chess for highly-prized chocolate; likewise it was not an ingredient Trusler was willing to do without. Not about to live without her chocolate chip cookies, she radioed nearby ships to see if they could spare chocolate chips and soft brown sugar. The recipe is included the book, for what she writes “may be the best chocolate chip cookies baked south of 60°.”

The desolate continent has a relatively brief history in terms of exploration – the first documented, and confirmed, landing was at Cape Adair in 1895 – and humans have only inhabited the continent in the last century. The first woman visited Antarctica in 1935 – Catherine Mikkelson, wife of a Norwegian whaling captain. More than 4,000 scientists of varied nationalities conduct ongoing experiments there, and the Madrid Protocol designated Antarctica a ‘natural reserve, devoted to peace and science’ in 1991 (coming into force on January 14, 1998).

Trusler and Devine included historic quotes and photographs of adventurers such as British Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton and Australian photographer Frank Hurley throughout the book. “We always said that we can’t tell the story alone because 100 years of humans were there; you have to carry them with you,” Devine says. “You’re down there and it’s such a short history; you’re so isolated. You have to draw from the knowledge of the land,” Trusler adds.

I brewed this tea for hundreds of tree-planters and served it for years without knowing what made it Russian. My starting point was the tea a friend’s mother made by blending powdered tea, juice crystals, spices and sugar. She called it Russian Tea, so I held on to the name when I adapted her recipe to take the sting out of cold mornings in tree-planting camps. After my first taste of the sublime brew Sasha poured for me in Diesel I felt self-conscious calling mine anything more than Spiced Tea.

To make Sasha’s Russian Tea, pour hot water over a handful of loose black tea leaves nestled in a small strainer set over a glass. Squeeze the juice from a large wedge of lemon and add it to the glass with plenty of sugar. Stir. It tastes better if you take time to savour it, especially with company. My Spiced Tea recipe is better for a crowd.

3 cinnamon sticks

2 tablespoons whole cloves

water

1 cup sugar

4 oranges

4 lemons

3 tablespoons loose black tea

Break the cinnamon sticks into a mid-sized pot containing 5 cups of water and set over medium-high heat. Zest one of the oranges and add it to the pot along with the cloves. Sprinkle in the sugar, stirring to dissolve as the water is coming up to temperature. Bring it briefly to a boil, then reduce to medium-low and simmer until the aroma of the spices begins to fill the room.

Bring 8 cups water to a gentle boil in a large pot.

While the syrup is simmering, ream the remaining citrus into a small bowl. Remove the syrup from the heat after about 10 minutes and add the juice, pouring it through a fine sieve. Add the tea leaves, then the 8 cups of boiling water and steep for at least 5 minutes. Strain the hot tea into a teapot or thermos, or directly into individual cups or glasses.

Spiced Tea keeps in the refrigerator for up to a week and is refreshing hot or cold. Flavours will intensify as the tea matures—at any point you can adjust the strength by adding more water or arrest the process entirely by straining the remaining brew.

Makes enough for 12 to 14 people.

Pollo Relleno

A pan full of a half-dozen roasted chickens being flattened under a stack of thick cutting boards and heavy pots was so arresting that I eventually forgot I’d come to ask the Artigas cook for an asado recipe. Henry claimed Pollo Relleno is not particularly unique to Uruguay. I think the stuffing made of cheese, ham, red peppers, raisins, carrots and hard-cooked eggs makes it distinctly South American. That day he served it to Uruguayan dignitaries. It’s a special meal.

A good-sized whole boned chicken (3 to 4 pounds)

3 eggs

2 carrots

1 sweet red pepper

1 pound smoked cooked ham

1 pound mozzarella

1⁄2 cup raisins

3 cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons grainy Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon dried oregano

olive oil

dried sage and thyme

salt and ground pepper

darning needle and thread

Wash the chicken and pat dry. Henry’s chickens were completely boned, but I like to keep the drumsticks and wings intact. Have the eggs hard-cooked, cooled and peeled. Peel the carrots and core the pepper, then cut them into long thin strips. Dice the ham and mozzarella and toss them together with the raisins in a bowl.

Open the chicken and lay it flat, flesh side up, on your work surface. Mince the garlic and combine it in a small bowl with the mustard and oregano. Use your hands to rub the paste all over the inside to make a nice foundation for the filling. Scatter a layer of the ham, cheese and raisin mixture overtop followed by a spray of peppers and carrots arranged so that the tops and tails are at either end of the cavity. Next line the hard-cooked eggs down the centre and alternate layers of the remaining ingredients.

When you have used up all the components, gently pull the sides of the chicken together, coaxing and jostling all the filling into the cavity. Sew a seam down the length and both ends of the chicken. Drizzle a little olive oil into a roasting pan and put in the chicken, seam side up. Rub some of the olive oil into the skin and season liberally. Roast in a 350˚F oven until crisp and golden and the chicken’s juices run clear, 1 1⁄2–2 hours.

Transfer the chicken to a rimmed baking sheet or platter. When the chicken has cooled slightly, place a large cutting board onto the chicken and weight the board with bricks, a heavy pot or books. Let cool to room temperature, and then remove the weights, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Carve into slightly slanting crosswise slices. Henry serves it chilled: I prefer it at room temperature. Pollo Relleno is lovely con ensaladas.

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